On a more serious note, I don't quite understand hunting either, I realise people see it as a sport, and that's fair enough I guess, but I don't think I could ever hunt myself unless it was a survival sort of situation.

Perhaps people feel a sense of accomplishment from going up against the wild and coming out on top?

I think people should hunt only if they're going to eat what they kill. I don't think people should kill things just because they like to shoot things. If you hunt, I don't care how fun it is, you better eat it.

We were once Hunters and Gatherers. So Hunting gives people the same sort of strange sense of purpose as collecting things does. Some people still have the urge to hunt, some people still have the urge to collect, some people have both, and some people have neither. I personally am definitely not a hunter, so it's easier for me to say that I think a hunter should still use the kill and not just leave it to rot or stuff it.

One of my uncles hunts, and he brings his kills to a butcher to turn them into food.

I don't know but I wouldn't want to hunt deers, not really my thing but yeah, some people enjoy doing it, whether they use the meat or not, I guess that's up to them.

I'm all for hunting, but my friend in question just kills and to quote "I enjoy pulling the trigger". To me it isn't hunting when you have a high powered rifle, wearing camo and have night vision goggles.

I'm all for hunting, but my friend in question just kills and to quote "I enjoy pulling the trigger". To me it isn't hunting when you have a high powered rifle, wearing camo and have night vision goggles.

There's no sport in that. He might be a borderline psychopath and maybe killing defenseless animals is the only thing keeping him from becoming a serial killer. :P but seriously.

EDIT: But basically the hunt itself, the outdoorsy experience so to speak is sort of the take-away, and pulling the trigger would be analogous to the orgasm at the end of sex I suppose.

OP I think it's pretty much the same thing as fishing. I've gone out for years with my dad and brother just to be part of nature. It's something unique sitting out in the woods watching squirrels, birds, deer, and sometimes coyotes run around you without noticing. While I'd never shoot anything myself, others around here do so to prevent starvation in the area (starvation of the deer obviously). While you could argue that the deer wouldn't be starving if we wouldn't have taken all of their land away, with what land they do have they will over populate and many will die. Quick bullet death> Starving over days, imho.

OP I think it's pretty much the same thing as fishing. I've gone out for years with my dad and brother just to be part of nature. It's something unique sitting out in the woods watching squirrels, birds, deer, and sometimes coyotes run around you without noticing. While I'd never shoot anything myself, others around here do so to prevent starvation in the area (starvation of the deer obviously). While you could argue that the deer wouldn't be starving if we wouldn't have taken all of their land away, with what land they do have they will over populate and many will die. Quick bullet death> Starving over days, imho.

This too. The controlled issuance of hunting licenses is an important part of conservation. For example, Canada has a massive seal hunt every year that the bleeding hearts whine about (because the value of an animals life == it's cuteness when alive). But without it the northern fisheries would be obliterated, as well as the livelihood of certain northern communities, because the presence of humans in the north has driven a lot of the natural predators elsewhere, allowing the seal population to explode.

That leaves you with two options, curtail the human population, and bulldoze all the human settlements and wait hundreds of years for natural migration patterns to return, or curtail the seal population until those polar bears grow a pair and come back.

Originally Posted by Bakis

I dont hunt and never will but I enjoy fishing and I just presume its really the same deal for those who enjoy hunting

Unless you do catch and release. Catch and release would be a little more difficult with a .22 than with a fishing pole.

You haven't lived until you've walked in on your boss on the phone saying, "Yeah, but how do you want to cook those frog legs?"

My old boss (recently switched jobs) and his family hunt big time, have heads of many animals on the walls of the plant, and they'd tell you they hunt to eat, and because they like shooting. And they do eat what they shoot, mostly ducks. And frogs apparently. I guess they pull out the BB gun for those guys.

Hunting is okay if you plan to use the meat and such for yourself or give/sell to others, just like fishing is. "Thrill of the hunt" as they say where the adrenalin is pumping as you get a big buck in your sights might be extremely "fun" and gives the sensation of "power" killing a beast but that's not the intent of the hunt IMO.

I think hunting for "fun" and not having any plans or desire for the carcass is cruelity, same thing with sports fishing. If you just catch the fish for the "fun" of it and having a struggle where your adrenalin pumps as the fish is fighting for it's life? That's not a sport, even if you let the fish go afterwards. Yes capturing fish or other animals for scientific research to better track and preserve some species' habitats and/or development is "okay" but I'm fairly certain they do it as quickly as possible and not like some sports fishing shows on TV where they fight with the fish for 2-3 hours and then let it go borderline dead of exhaustion... fucking morons imo.

So yes, hunting for the act of survival and food (also fishing) is completely fine. Hunting or fishing for "fun" and as a sport? well I'd like to go on a hunt after them, if you find it fun to torture and kill then you're a psycho...

I used to hunt in Sweden. I have a hunting license and three firearms... i left the military and wanted a challenge... then i realized hunting isn't challenging at all with a firearm. It's even retarded some people consider it a sport. It's easy, lazy and pointless unless it's done to keep the correct balance between species which was the case in Sweden.

I no longer hunt as it's not a challenge, anyone who thinks it's a challange... poor you.

If I wasn't such a cripple I'd start hunting for food for myself and my dog, we could use the whole carcass between the two of us which makes it way, way more economical, ecological (and egological) than buying from the store.

I fish a lot because I enjoy laying back and eventually getting dinner, meanwhile my friend hunts because he enjoys the kill. He shoots deer, and doesn't use anything from the body as I'm aware of.

Just wondering why people choose to hunt?

For some people, it's a financial thing. Getting a deer this time of year always helped my family get through winter. The price of the tags for the volume of the meat is by far less expensive than going and purchasing meat at the grocery store. When work (and therefore money) fluctuates with the weather, having that extra food during lean times of the year is invaluable.

We don't just hunt though, we also raise chickens for eggs/to eat, too. Pair that with a garden, and my parents were able to raise three kids on very little winter income, and still be able to afford school clothes and supplies for all of us.